Glimpses
by TheNextFolchart
Summary: Snapshots of characters' lives in 30-word bursts. /Written for the 30 Words or Less challenge on HPFC. [Word Count: 2,834]
1. Ginny Weasley

Written for the 30 Words or Less challenge, where the object of the game is to answer 100 prompts with stories no more than 30 words long. I plan to do five prompts per chapter (for an eventual total of 20 chapters).

_In which Ginny is "loved."_

* * *

I. Reality Check

_Get a grip, Ginny_, you tell yourself, closing the diary and burying it beneath a mountain of other textbooks. _Time to stop fantasizing. Time to face the real world again._

II. Absolutely Alone

But the real world is hard when nobody knows you exist, and you find yourself digging up the diary and cradling it in your arms as you fall asleep.

III. Prince Charming

_If I were there, I'd be your friend, _the diary murmurs in its wet inky voice, and you know it's impossible but you feel your heart speed up anyway.

IV. Virgin

When he pulls you down to the Chamber of Secrets, he laughs at how little you are, how innocent and insignificant and worthless, and never have you felt more betrayed.

V. Good Question

Later, when they ask why you wrote back to him, you swallow the truth and say, "Good question." You don't reveal the real reason.

Because it wasn't love.

Not really.


	2. Hermione Granger

_In which Hermione changes her mind._

* * *

I. Can You Hear Me?

Hermione can. She hears him telling Harry she's a nightmare, hears him say it's no wonder she's friendless. Tears spring to her eyes. She hears him, and she hates him.

II. I'm Telling

She knows Ron's been breaking rules - cheating on his homework, specifically - and it's her job as Prefect to tell someone. But she doesn't, no matter how often she threatens to.

III. Out of Control

She can't help herself; when he opens the Chamber, she throws her arms around him. Finally he's proved himself a Gryffindor, and she's prouder than she cares to admit.

IV. I Love You

He says it first. She laughs and says she already knew that. He shakes his head, says, "No, I _mean _it," and then he's on one knee and she's sobbing.

V. Willingness

She knows she doesn't have to say, "I Do," knows it's her choice and she still has time to change her mind -

- but why on earth would she do that?


	3. Winky

_In which Winky falls from grace._

* * *

I. Drunk

Winky has only seen Master Crouch intoxicated one time. It was after the trial, and he kept yelling and throwing things at the walls. Winky hid until it was over.

II. Disaster

How ironic, then, that a few years later _she__'s_ the drunk one? She was dismissed, abandoned, worthless. It all hurts to think about. Easier to just be numb.

III. Turned Off

It's Dobby who nurses her to health after her alcohol poisoning. She never tells him she didn't want to be saved. The world was easier when it was turned off.

IV. Past, Present, Future

Sometimes she sits by the window and reminisces about what might have been and what used to be, and its times like those when she needs Dobby the most.

V. Dysfunctional

She isn't fine and she knows it. Everyone knows it. Some of them offer to help her. But even after all this time, it's still Master Crouch she craves.


	4. Pansy Parkinson

_In which Pansy strays._

* * *

I. Men

Pansy Parkinson can't get enough of Draco.

Or Zabini.

Or Flint.

Or Montague.

Or Goyle, when she's drunk enough.

But it's Draco she loves, so none of the others matter.

II. Behind My Back

"I fancy you," Pansy tells Draco, tracing circles on his bare shoulder.

"Not enough to be faithful, apparently," he mutters, but it's not loud enough for her to hear.

III. Study Sessions

She "studies" with Zabini at four, when Draco's meant to be at Quidditch practice, and it's not cheating, not _really,_ because there's no love, only sex.

IV. Cut It Out

He forgets his broom one day and walks in on them. Pansy starts to say something, but he just shakes his head and walks out, leaving his broom behind.

V. Dreamt

And suddenly that's it, it's all over, and everything she'd ever dreamt of - a wedding at the Manor, a white-blonde baby boy, becoming Pansy Malfoy - goes up in smoke.


	5. Fred & George Weasley

_In which Fred and George talk._

* * *

I. Memories

"Hey, Fred, remember when we were seven and we brought in a garden gnome and told Ron it was Ginny?"

"One of our finest hours. So young, yet so imaginative."

II. Finish This

"Oi, George, come help me."

"What's wrong?"

"I can't finish this Valentine's poem for dear old Filch. It's almost there, I just need a rhyme for 'bollocks.'"

"Smallpox?"

"Perfect."

III. Light

"Look at those fireworks, eh, George? Pathetic. Muggles could do with taking a leaf from our book. Nobody's fireworks are brighter than ours."

"Mmm. Bless them for trying, though."

IV. Dark

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

"Well, Fred, one of our lovely customers has accidentally overturned an entire crate of Peruvian Darkness Powder."

"A customer, George? Or you?"

"Does it really matter?"

V. Rule Breaking

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"Neither is our sister, apparently."

"Where is she?"

"There. Alone with our generous benefactor."

"Ginny and Harry? Right. That won't last."


	6. Lily Evans

_In which Lily moves on._

* * *

I. Holding Hands

Severus is the one who suggests it the first time, and who is Lily to deny him? There's nothing wrong with friends holding hands. It's not like it means anything.

II. Fearful

"D'you want to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Can't. I'm meeting Lestrange in the dungeons."

"Oh." Lily doesn't say it, but she's afraid of Lestrange. She's afraid of all Sev's new friends.

III. Honor

Lily has learned by now that there's no pride in being muggleborn. She once thought she was special, but Sev has set her straight.

(But she hates the word mudblood.)

IV. Transportation

She starts taking flying lessons. Sev thinks it's so she can join Potter on the Quidditch team. It isn't. She just prefers broom travel to apparation.

(He doesn't believe her.)

V. Going In Circles

Gone are the children who held hands in the park. She's tired of trying to save this friendship. She hates what he's become, and he hates what she's always been.


	7. Luna Lovegood

_In which Luna is the odd one out._

* * *

I. Psychotic

Luna knows she's odd. She's been told by nearly every student at Hogwarts. She hears them mocking her, hears them calling her names, but she doesn't cry. Luna never cries.

II. Fake

The oddness had started when her mother died, because Luna couldn't handle the loss, couldn't handle reality at all, and she'd rather be ridiculed than try to face her grief.

III. Amazing

Neville Longbottom doesn't have a mother anymore, either, she learns.

Luna wonders how he copes with the pain.

Someday she'll ask him.

IV. Tattered Edges

She can hear her mother's voice beyond the ragged veil in the Department of Mysteries and it's almost too much to take, but Luna doesn't cry, not even one tear.

V. Hero

In the end, Harry defeated Voldemort -

And Ron, Hermione, and Neville destroyed his horcruxes -

And she, Luna Lovegood, did nothing but talk to ghosts and refuse to cry.

Some hero.


	8. Nymphadora Tonks

_In which Tonks falls._

* * *

I. In Love

Tonks doesn't know what it is about Remus, but she can't focus around him,

(And when you're as clumsy as Tonks is, not focusing can be dangerous.)

II. Let Me Out

She goes by Tonks, because Nymphadora is such a _Black _name, and it makes her feel trapped by her heritage.

(But she thinks Nymphadora might sound nice on Remus' lips.)

III. Sickness

She brings him soup after every full moon, treating him like he's got a cold instead of lycanthropy, and she wonders if he loves her back.

(Wonders, but doesn't ask.)

IV. Rainbow

The first time he kisses her is unexpected - but not unwanted - and she's so elated she can't choose a color, and her whole body is a rainbow.

(_He loves her._)

V. Dead Tired

_Til death do us part._

The wedding vow rings in her ears as she falls - because of a curse, this time, and not her clumsiness.

(Her last thought is him.)


	9. Argus Filch

_In which Filch wishes._

* * *

I. Wish Upon A Star

You feel like a fool as you peer out the window at the stars.

You know stars have no more magical ability than you yourself.

But you wish anyway.

II. Cheating

Your Kwikspell envelope, your Last Resort, is lying unopened on your desk.

You desperately want to rip into it, but something holds you back:

_What if doesn't work?_

III. Lurking

You lurk in the corridors every night, waiting to catch the rulebreakers, but rulebreakers don't actually come around very often, and you spend most of the time practicing your magic.

IV. Sunset

You hate this.

You hate the brats that torture you, the poltergeist that pranks you, the wizards who ignore you.

The stars are coming out.

You hate yourself for wishing.

V. Delusional

Sometimes you fantasize about finding a nice Squib girl and starting a Squib family in which nobody ever feels alone.

But it's just another wish.

Miracles are for the delusional.


	10. Poppy Pomfrey

_In which Poppy helps._

* * *

I. Damsel in Distress

Poppy was never one for playing the damsel in distress.

No, she preferred to do the saving, thank you very much, and her prince would have to deal with it.

II. Never Too Late

"Another one?" Poppy asked when Dumbledore knocked on her door.

"A ghost this time. Petrified, like the others."

"Bring him in. Never too late to mend the dead, I suppose."

III. To Save A Life

"Is he..." Slughorn asked. Poppy shooed him away.

"Alive." She drew the curtain around Ron Weasley's poisoned form. "Lucky Potter was there."

"Lucky _you're _here," Slughorn said, and she smiled.

IV. With All My Heart

Poppy's entire heart was numb.

"There's nothing you could have done," McGonagall reminded her.

But those words couldn't bring Dumbledore back to life, and they couldn't alleviate her guilt, either.

V. Help Me

There were so many bodies after the Battle of Hogwarts. Too many. Poppy felt ill.

She wasn't a damsel in distress. She wasn't. She _wasn't._

"Help me," she whispered anyway.


	11. Rubeus Hagrid

_In which Hagrid ignores._

* * *

I. Not Thinking

Rubeus isn't dumb - far from it - he just lets things slip his mind.

"How could you bring an acromantula into the castle?" Headmaster Dippet cries. "They're dangerous!"

"Oops," Rubeus says.

II. Fine Line

They snap his wand at his expulsion hearing, but they never say he can't keep the pieces, so Rubeus scoops up his broken wand and slips in into his pocket.

III. Disease

Years pass before his eyes. Students come and go and stare at him, and once in awhile they ask what's _wrong _with him, as if his heritage is a disease.

IV. Quitting You

And of course there's Olympe, who acts ashamed of who she is, and Rubeus finds himself wondering why he's with someone who hates giants.

He leaves her the next morning.

V. Nature

He returns to collecting creatures instead of friends. He won't believe anyone who says they're dangerous; people make cruel assumptions about _his _nature, after all, and they're wrong every time.


	12. Rodolphus & Bellatrix Lestrange

_In which Rodolphus gives up._

* * *

I. Unfaithful

Rodolphus knew his wife was cheating.

Ordinarily, he wouldn't care. He'd been cheating, too.

But this time she was cheating with Voldemort, and that made Rodolphus nervous.

II. Attention

He only married Bellatrix because his family was out of money and needed to tap into the Black family fortune. And Bellatrix only married him for the attention.

III. Missing Out

He had had a love, though - still had her, actually - and it killed him that the two of them missed out on a normal life because of Bella.

IV. Broken

And Bellatrix was probably sitting on the Dark Lord's lap, whispering plans in his ear and plotting ways to break apart their marriage.

(All she had to do was ask.)

V. Why Not

"You've been seeing other women," Bellatrix guessed at dinner.

He didn't deny it.

"Why?"

He met her steady gaze "Why not?"

She gasped. "_Avada kedavra!_"

And Rodolphus didn't even care.


	13. James Potter

_In which James dates._

* * *

I. Classy

James Potter is dressed to the nines.

He's taking Lily to Hogsmeade - their _first date, _though she doesn't know it yet - and he's planned every detail.

It will be _perfect._

II. Confident

"M'Lady," James says when he sees Lily.

She doesn't take his arm. "Where's Remus?" she asks.

"He couldn't make it."

"Peter?"

"Sick."

"Sirius?"

"Evans, it's just you and me."

"..._oh_."

III. Confusing

"What do you mean, you aren't going?"

"I don't want to date you!" she yells. "Get it through your thick head!" And she stomps back into the Common Room.

IV. Controlling

"Lily?" It's James again.

"Go away."

"Just come to Hogsmeade. Please."

"Is this another attempt at forcing me into a date?"

"No."

She stands. "Then I'll go. As _friends_."

V. Don't Leave Me

Of course the first Hogsmeade trip leads to a second, which leads to something more rare and special, and somehow Lily's "I won't date you" becomes "I won't leave you."


	14. Rita Skeeter

_In which Rita exaggerates._

* * *

I. Different

"HUFFLEPUFF!" cried the Sorting Hat, and with a gasp Rita Skeeter stood and whirled to face McGonagall.

"It's wrong," she said, wide-eyed. "I'm a _Slytherin._"

Nobody heard her.

II. Modesty

"Skeeter, where are your robes?"

"I'm wearing them."

"Those are green. Where are your Hufflepuff robes?"

"I'm a Slytherin," she insisted. "House pride!"

Professor Sprout sighed. "Ten points from Hufflepuff."

III. Home

Home for Rita was a shack outside of London, and she hated it there. "I'm staying for Christmas," she told Professor Sprout, as she did every year. "Go Slytherins."

IV. Believe Me

Her first job was at the Prophet, and her first article was a scandalous piece about her botched Sorting, and Fudge, who disliked Dumbledore, was thrilled with the story.

V. Words

And while her Slytherin-green quill scrawled down words nobody had said, Rita Skeeter grinned for her adoring public and wondered how the Hat had missed the ambition in her.


	15. Neville Longbottom

_In which Neville matters._

* * *

I. Anger Welling

"We're trying our best."

Those four words make anger boil within Neville until he thinks he might lose control of himself and strangle the Healer.

Their best is not enough.

II. Judgement

"Enough," his gran says at dinner when Neville only picks at his food. "You can't let anyone see how much it bothers you."

But he also can't hide it.

III. Companionship

"I didn't ask to lose my parents," Harry is shouting at someone across the room.

Neville knows how he feels.

He wonders if they could be friends.

IV. Left Out

Friends don't come easily to Neville, though, not when he's so socially awkward, and the _one time _Harry Potter talks to him he ends up Stunned on the floor.

V. My Life

Neville won't admit it, but he's pretty sure his life is worthless.

(It's not.)

(Because it's his ten points that bring Gryffindor to victory at the end of the year.)


	16. Peter Pettigrew

_In which Peter transforms._

* * *

I. Testing the Limits

Peter doesn't know why it's taking him so much longer than the others to transform.

He's trying, he really is, but he can't make it out of his comfort zone.

II. Relief

One day he just does it. He breaks through the mental wall and finds his animagus, and he's flooded with liberation because finally he's just as good as his friends.

III. Emotional

But it wears off quickly, and Peter finds himself thinking darker and darker thoughts, thoughts of Not-Good-Enough and Not-Worth-Anyone's-Time and Kill-Yourself.

And he's scared.

IV. Stubborn

He doesn't kill himself, of course. He's stronger than that. He's a Gryffindor, even though he doesn't fit in there, and he resolves to fight this depression.

(He loses.)

V. Around the Corner

He rounds a metaphorical corner, and suddenly he's got a brand on his arm and a missing finger and a myriad of regrets.

(When he finally dies, it's a relief.)


	17. Cho Chang

_In which Cho tells the truth._

* * *

I. I Remember

The truth is, Cho Chang can't remember anything anymore.

She drowned her memory in firewhiskey a long time ago, and now she can't quite recall why she's so sad.

II. Cuts

The truth about the cuts on her arms: she put them there. It wasn't her cat. It was her own blade. And the scariest part is, it didn't even hurt.

III. Fresh

The truth about the boyfriend is that she's bored with him. She used to believe One Man For Life, but that was before, and it's time for a fresh face.

IV. Train of Thought

The truth about magic is that she doesn't like it anymore, which is why she only sleeps with Muggles now.

Once in awhile she thinks of the Hogwarts Express.

V. The Truth

(The truth about Cedric is that she hadn't actually like him as much as she'd liked Harry Potter.

But that's a secret she'll take to the grave.)


	18. Severus Snape

_In which Snape feels._

* * *

I. Pain

Lily. Potter. Talking. Laughing. Kissing. Fingers twining together.

You can't breathe.

II. Recovery

Proposal. Wedding. Pregnant. Baby.

It's like every other piece of news you get is about Lily, and just when you're almost recovered someone peels back your scabs.

III. Beauty

Green. Eyes. Dull. Dead.

You can't help it. You cry. All the beauty in the world is gone, gone, gone . . .

IV. Grief

Harry. _Eyes._

You can't look at him. You'll protect him, because he's hers, and he could have been _yours_, in a different life, but you can't look at him.

V. Background

Teach. Spy. Watch. Lurk. Protect.

Double-agents are supposed to hide in the shadows, and so you do.

You don't mind. Everything is a shadow now that she's gone.


	19. Sirius Black

_In which Sirius escapes._

* * *

I. Small World

Until he's five, Sirius doesn't know Outside exists. He's never left the walls of Grimmauld Place, and when he finally does he's awestruck.

They will never lock him up again.

II. Go The Distance

Once he's Sorted, he never wants to leave Hogwarts. He's not homesick like Remus, who goes home practically every month.

The distance isn't hard for him. It's the _best part_.

III. Run Away

"You will sever ties with the muggle-lover," says his father, referring to James, "or you are no longer my son."

Sirius leaves that night. He doesn't come back.

IV. Shallow

After that the world is a blur of weddings, funerals, arrests, escapes - and he winds up in his former family's house again, and his life's no deeper than a child's.

V. Shine

And after all of _that_, when there is nothing left of him on earth, Sirius shines in the sky, laughing and mocking the ones who tried to tether him down.


	20. Ginny Weasley Again

_In which Ginny is loved._

* * *

I. Reach

_The music is too slow, _you think furiously. You want to run to him, but you can't (you do anyway) and when you reach him you feels _whole_.

II. For You

The ring is engraved with the word, "Always," and you don't know why, but you start to tear up when he says, "For you," and slides it on you finger.

III. Pinky Promise

He's not you first, you both know that. There was Dean before him, and Michael, and at the very beginning there was Tom.

But you promise he'll be your last.

IV. Squeaky Clean

And after the ceremony, when he kisses you for the first time as your _husband_, you're keenly aware of your heartbeat, and you feel shiny and new and clean.

V. Dance

And then you both slip away into your old Common Room, where you dance to no music and he whispers, "I love you," over and over, and it's _real._


End file.
